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Thoughts anyone?

A

Antonio

Member
I had the roux-n-y and I’m 4 1/2 months post op and lost 110 pounds. I rarely eat anymore. Everything grosses me out except for 1 or 2 different types of foods. I’m terrified to stretch out my stomach, so only way to not do that is not eat very much.

I know I should see a therapist, but I wanted to see if anyone else relates to my situation.
 
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Antonio, if you don't have a nutritionist, you should get one immediately. What you're describing is horrifying and heading toward illness and death.

If you can't tolerate a lot of different foods, you can supplement with nutritional powders and liquid drinks. You absolutely need to keep your nutritional profile in the best number ranges. You can't shrink or stretch your stomach. Those are myths designed to accompany eating disorders. If you starved to death, it wouldn't be your stomach that was affected first. It would be organ failure from lack of nutrition, necessary vitamins and minerals. It has NOTHING to do with the size of your stomach, and neither does the urge to eat. You feel stuff in your stomach, but these things originate in your brain and have effects on your pineal gland and other parts of your brain.

Stop eating when you feel full. Eat slowly. Chew well. Put your utensils down between bites. These are essentials to cultivate rather than fear of stretching your stomach.
 
I went into the doctors office last week and had blood work done and my levels are all normal. The one thing I’ve kept up on is taking my vitamins.

I made an appointment with the nutritionist and they’re booked 2 months out. Im definitely ambivalent though because the numbers are going down fast and I don’t want that to change.
I know I sound stupid or crazy or both. Because it’s nice to feel seen now.

I appreciate your response and you hit the nail on the head. I hear you.
 
You don't sound crazy or stupid, Antonio. I commented based on personal experience. I never even took vitamins before surgery. I was shocked I hadn't damaged my health in some permanent way before I started seeing a nutritionist, after surgery.

Don't worry about your weight loss slowing down. It does, but it follows your body's cues, not a nutritionist's rules. You can live on a very small number of calories for awhile but your body will go into starvation mode (adaptive thermogenesis) to conserve calories when it's not getting its needs met.

You've really lost a lot of weight in a very short time. I plateaued for months after losing 75 pounds. Then I increased my activity and the weight started burning off again until I'd lost 115 pounds after 14 months.

I only commented because one thing we share is some kind of skewed body image or caloric intake, which is why we become obese while others around us have no trouble with food or weight. I don't know your personal history but I could never lose as much weight as you did in that time-frame unless I was eating almost nothing and expending a lot of calories by hiking or exercising.
 
Just a heads up that the stomach doesn’t stretch, but the new stoma they make expands and allows food to pass through more quickly making it easier to eat more. Unless you are absolutely pigging out and consistently eating more than you should it is incredibly hard to stretch the stoma out. I know it’s exciting to lose weight and lose a lot very quickly but it will catch up with you if you don’t balance out your diet. A good portion of your weight loss is probably attributable to muscle loss as well if you aren’t feeding your body appropriately. Loss of muscle by itself will eventually slow down your weight loss. Glad you are going to see a nutritionist but do some research in the meantime and start on a healthier path as far as food is concerned. Food isn’t the enemy, it’s our relationship with it. You are losing weight but your relationship with food is still bad, just in the opposite direction. Try looking into a therapist that works with Bariatric patients. Mine was a lifesaver.
 
Antonio said:
I had the roux-n-y and I’m 4 1/2 months post op and lost 110 pounds. I rarely eat anymore. Everything grosses me out except for 1 or 2 different types of foods. I’m terrified to stretch out my stomach, so only way to not do that is not eat very much.

I know I should see a therapist, but I wanted to see if anyone else relates to my situation.
Click to expand...


Hi, Antonio. I am glad you are going to see a nutritionist. However, I would also suggest following up with a therapist. Change of any kind, good or bad, can be stressful. Especially if you used food as any type of coping mechanism.

If your blood work is good you are obviously not under nourished. The nutritionist can and should give you exact amounts or you can look up serving sizes. Many times I cannot eat a full serving size, which is fine. But its important to know what a serving size looks like. (It does not look anything like what a restaurant serves or how much I used to eat, I'll tell you that lol)

I personally was told to stick to between 4 and 8 oz (1/2 -1 Cup) per meal. Snacks based on that serving by size (nuts= 1oz small apple etc just as an example.)
 
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